The EVA Challenge: Implementing Value-Added Change in an Organization

–Economic Value Added–is a measure of the true economic performance of a company and a strategy for creating shareholder wealth. It is also a method of changing corporate priorities and behavior throughout a company, right down to the shop floor. Properly implemented, EVA frees the mea-surement of corporate performance from the vagaries of accounting conventions and aligns the interests of managers with those of shareholders, ending a decades-long conflict of interest.

In The EVA Challenge, authors Stern, Shiely, and Ross outline how to implement EVA at all stages–including strategy development, organizational design, training, and incentive compensation.

Essentially, an EVA program encompasses three things: a measurement system, an incentive system, and a system of financial management. In measuring performance, for example, EVA’s key ingredient is the recognition of a capital charge——the cost of the capital in a company, in a division, in a branch store, or in a product. This detailed how-to guide shows executives around the world how to customize EVA for their organizations and improve the economic value they deliver. Here, EVA converts learn how to work some "EVA magic" through company-specific initiatives and case study examples. Coverage includes insightful new material on matters such as real options and new economy valuations, showing why new economy firms need EVA as much as old economy firms.

Executives around the globe now have a book that shows them how best to utilize EVA at their companies–reorienting the corporate ship in the direction of true economic profit. Research shows that companies using EVA outperformed competitors of comparable market capitalization by an average of 49% over a five-year period, as measured by total returns to shareholders.